Oracle

[shadowpsykie]

A few Reasons Why Oracle is my all time Favorite Characters
Birds of Prey #100


Payback in Birds of Prey #124


Nightwing #87


there is also a scan i am looking for that i can't seem to find... Its Oracle taking out a gang in the streets by herself (it might be after getting some Italian food) the set up is Canary is watching and asking if Barbara is sure she wants to do this take down by herself (Canary has Helena waiting in the wings i think) and Babs says she can take care of a few (dozen) street punks, that was always one of my favorite moments :)

Comments

[jarodrussell]

The scene you're looking for is in issue #75.

[shadowpsykie]

ah Thank you!

[webbgirl]

I grew up reading Marvel almost exclusively, but over the past year or so I started reading DC. Babs was one of those DC characters who I admired from afar but didn't know a whole bunch about. Now that I'm reading BoP and Batgirl, I LOVE her. She's such a great character all the way around.

I guess I need to add her to the ever growing list of DC canon I need to read.

[shadowpsykie]

yeah BoP is one, if not the number 1 favorite books our right now. after Gail left the series was hit and miss, the one from 124 being my favorite moment in the Post Gail run. (thankn god she's back) my other favorite Heroine is manhunter, maybe iw ill post one of her later if no one else does.

[turtlefu]

Now, there's something I've always wondered about:
Are so many people impressed with Babs because she is in a wheelchair? Would we still like her and be impressed by her if she had complete control of her legs?
I think I would, but I also wonder if sometimes it helps make Babs more of sympathetic character (because she's an underdog).
But, I know I love Babs because of her personality. She is angry and bitter, yes, but she still retains the same determination, independence, and even joy from her Batgirl days.

[shadowpsykie]

she also has a compulsive need to "fix people" (it got her into trouble more times than not)

i think in my head its "If she is THIS good when she is in a wheel chair, then DAMN! she could be AWESOME if she walks again" that said, its not the sympathy i think that makes her a great character, its the fact that she does not let the shit that happened to her stop her from achieving ehr goals

[jarodrussell]

I swear I tried to keep my mouth shut, I did! But, really...

"If she is THIS good when she is in a wheel chair, then DAMN! she could be AWESOME if she walks again"

You're seriously missing the point of Oracle. These scenes...which are fine if you enjoy them...are pretty much Barbara being Batgirl in crip drag.

Saying Oracle is great in a wheelchair but could be better if she walked is like saying Batwoman would be an awesome Batman if she just had a cock.

[shadowpsykie]

thats not at all what i mean.

some peopel think that just because she is in a wheel chair she needs to be protected. that she can't take care of herself, and that the only good she has is her brain.

now, i KNOW Oracle's greatest asset IS her mind, and she has proven that on almost EVERY ocassion, not just in Birds of Prey, but when she is called on by the JSA.

what i love is when people go "Oh Noes! evil peoples iz trying to kill batpeople, quick! protect Barbara!" then superboy shows up, and the ninja assassin is unconcious at barbara's wheels.

i just like when people, when writers show, that Barbara is a capable woman who despite being crippled is (excuse my language) no body's bitch.

thats why I love Oracle. She is intelligent, beautiful, and completely capable of taking care of herself. does she have problems? yes she does. and its not her disabilty. She has a need to fix people that she sees as "broken" and that has caused some friction amongst her peers (it even peeved Canary) she doesn't like asking for help, she also has a need to control and manipulate people (that she probably learned from Bruce) though she is not quite at Bruce's level of mistrust. However Barbara has the ability to see he faults and adjust them accordingly. She also has a fierce loyalty to those around her.

THAT is why i love Barbara Gordon/Oracle. i ju st posted THOSE i mages because I love it when people remember she was trained by Batman, and Richard "freaking" Dragon.

[shadowpsykie]

my other Favorite moment (besides taking out the street punks) is where she basically tells the Brainiace VIrus inside her to go away or she will end its existence, if it goes away willingly, she will retain a portion of it in her perfect memory, that way, in a way, it will continue to exist as long as she does. that was one of my alltime favorite moments and it all took place in her mind.

[batman]

Nah, she's a fiercely independent, hypercompetent, smokin' hot redhead who, despite being bitter and angry, has the optimism that people can be redeemed (so it becomes far more realistic). What's not to like?

[q99]

I would think so, what she does is impressive chair or no chair, she's one of the key connecting figures of the wider DCU.

One reason people often argue against her losing the chair is they're terrified that someone would then try and make her Batgirl again, which would be a big downgrade in her effectiveness/importance in the DCU.

[infinityandbeyond]

I can never understand that argument though. She can totally continue being Oracle, in or out of the chair.

[q99]

Writers have some very bad habits when it comes to these matters.

Zee...

[jogadoresesquecidos.blogspot.com]

Mine's obviously Zatanna. However, since I don't even have a decent DreamWidth account, I don't think I'll be able to post anything from her.

Anyway, any other Z fans out there would like to publish something?

Re: Zee...

[shadowpsykie]

hey, no high jacking my post! lol :)

Re: Zee...

[jogadoresesquecidos.blogspot.com]

Would never do that, sir! Sorry! lol :)

Re: Zee...

[shadowpsykie]

thats better :) LOL

Re: Zee...

[nezchan]

You obviously meant "Zee Oracle, monsieur!"

[benicio127]

Babs, ilu....
Oracle Year One always makes me cry.

[shadowpsykie]

why is that?

[benicio127]

Oh just happy and sad tears. Happy for Babs, but also sad because of what happened to her and some of the things she says are just so full of raw emotion.

[benicio127]

Errr.... happy that she becomes Oracle.

[proteus_lives]

Never liked that BoP encounter. After Oracle knocks all of the Joker's teeth out, he ecsapes and kills a dentist's office worth of people after they fix him.

But Barbara could give a shit, she's just glad she "beat" him.

It's what drives me up the wall about the Bat-Clan, they don't care what their villains do. They just keep doing the same thing over and over, do they even expect a different reaction at this point?

[shadowpsykie]

Well, I really thought that arc itself was sub par (to be nice) characters were out of character and the like. I just liked this one moment, what happened before or after I ignore. I just think it was an awesome moment, (keep in mind he through down a flight of stairs after the encounter, AND she did feel bad, really bad about the dentists office. I see your point, but the MOMENT was still cool

[psychopathicus_rex]

The thing is, though, the Joker is such a high-level mass-murderer these days that... well, basically, he's going to kill people no matter what you do. As long as he's at large, he will most likely be killing people, and probably lots of them. Sure, it sucks that he killed those people - of course it does; murder of innocents always sucks - but if he hadn't killed those people, he'd be killing OTHER people. He constantly runs up a death tole, and does so regardless of other things - so basically, while Oracle did cause the death of those people, she didn't cause him to kill; he would have been doing that anyway. She just pushed him in one particular direction. It's a tricky moral gray area, I admit. (Anyway, as has been pointed out, she DID feel guilty about the whole thing afterward.)

[superfangirl1]

Awesome scans~! :)

[blackruzsa]

Last scan: ARNIS MOVE,WOOOOOT!

[shadowpsykie]

arnis?

[blackruzsa]

Kali Eskrima.
T'is a martial art that is used by nearly everyone but overlooked.

[shadowpsykie]

Oh I know escrima, I know Babs trained in it. Just didn't recognize the "yell"